24 m. ago US and Ukraine sign minerals deal after months of strained negotiations – Europe live

US treasury department announces agreement after reports of last-minute obstacles apparently overcomeFull report: US and Ukraine sign minerals deal that solidifies investment in Kyiv’s defense against RussiaIn Spain, harrowing stories have continued to emerge after much of the Iberian Peninsula was plunged into an hours-long blackout earlier this week.Jonathan Bernal, a window washer in Madrid, has detailed how he and a co-worker were cleaning the outside windows of a skyscraper when the power went out. For four hours they ended up stranded on hanging scaffolding, some 240 metres above the city. Continue reading...

Economics

63 m. ago ‘A phenomenon’: Inzaghi hails Lamine Yamal after his star turn against Inter

Inter coach says such a talent only ‘born every 50 years’Hansi Flick calls 17-year-old ‘a genius’ after 100th outingThe Inter head coach, Simone Inzaghi, called Lamine Yamal a phenomenon that only comes along every 50 years after the teenager led Barcelona’s comeback against his team at Montjuïc.Inter led the Champions League semi-final first leg 2-0 after only 21 minutes but, on his 100th professional appearance for the club, the 17-year-old scored an outrageous goal to get Barcelona back in the game and produced a performance that suggests it is not that he will become the best player in the world – he already might be. Continue reading...

Politics

88 m. ago US and Ukraine sign deal to set up reconstruction investment fund – Europe live

US treasury department announces deal after reports of last-minute obstacles apparently overcome Ukraine war briefing: US and Kyiv ‘ready to sign’ minerals deal amid uncertainty over last-minute hurdlesIn Spain, harrowing stories have continued to emerge after much of the Iberian Peninsula was plunged into an hours-long blackout earlier this week.Jonathan Bernal, a window washer in Madrid, has detailed how he and a co-worker were cleaning the outside windows of a skyscraper when the power went out. For four hours they ended up stranded on hanging scaffolding, some 240 metres above the city. Continue reading...

Economics

1 hour ago Trump’s loyal footsoldiers doff their Maga caps at cabinet love

Red and navy hats were strategically placed as Trump’s cabinet gushed over 100 presidential days like no otherThere were navy blue and red baseball caps up and down the table, strategically placed in front of every cabinet member, and each bearing the message “Gulf of America”.Yet the unorthodox collection of headwear, embroidered with Donald Trump’s forced new name for the centuries-old Gulf of Mexico, was far from the most bizarre aspect of an extraordinary White House gathering hosted by the president on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Chelsea win WSL title after Lucy Bronze goal sees off Manchester United

Chelsea clinched a sixth consecutive Women’s Super League title with two games to spare and continued their relentless dominance of the major silverware in English women’s football as they dug deep to win away at Manchester United, whose own hopes of securing European qualifying suffered a dent as a result.The 1-0 victory, secured by a 74th-minute Lucy Bronze header from a corner, was greeted by jubilant scenes of celebration in the away end and saw Sonia Bompastor’s team remain on course to complete an entire league campaign unbeaten, a feat that has not been achieved by any team since the WSL expanded to be a 12-team division. Continue reading...

Sport

2 h. ago Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump roar into World Snooker semi

Trump blasts past Brecel 13-8 to set up Williams clashO’Sullivan beats Si 13-9 and now faces Zhao XintongJudd Trump charged into the semi-finals, beating Luca Brecel in a high-quality match, while Ronnie O’Sullivan repelled a stirring fightback from Si Jiahui at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.Trump will face Mark Williams in the last four after the Welshman’s epic 13-12 victory over John Higgins, which went to the final black. O’Sullivan will meet the Chinese sensation Zhao Xintong in what promises to be a mouthwatering clash. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Bill Belichick defends girlfriend Hudson as ‘doing her job’ in viral CBS interview

Belichick says girlfriend wasn’t out to control interviewHudson, 24, interjected during question on relationshipNorth Carolina football coach Bill Belichick defended his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, for interjecting during a CBS interviewer’s questions about their relationship and said she was “simply doing her job”.The six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach and first-time college coach at UNC issued a statement through the school Wednesday, which followed an appearance on CBS News Sunday Morning to promote his upcoming book. In the interview, Hudson objected to a question about how the two had met while Tony Dokoupil referred to her during the segment as being a “constant presence” in the interview. Continue reading...

Politics

2 h. ago Lamine Yamal dazzles as Barcelona and Inter trade stunning goals in 3

Lamine Yamal had said that he left fear behind in the park in Mataró when he was little and there was certainly no sign of it on an astonishing night up on Montjuïc. Barcelona were a goal down inside the first minute of their first Champions League semi-final in seven years, reminded of the ghosts of their recent past and needing more goals than Inter had conceded in the entire league phase, then they found themselves trailing again on the hour, but the 17-year-old would not back down and nor would his teammates.Instead, there he was gesturing for this Olympic stadium to get on its feet and find its voice and producing a performance that meant they could hardly do anything else. One that suggested it is not that he might become the best player around, but that he already might be, the most outstanding of many outstanding men on a wild and wonderful occasion in which Barcelona twice came from behind to equalise, going from 2-0 to 2-2 and 3-2 to 3-3, but couldn’t quite turn it around ...

Politics

3 h. ago Microsoft beats Wall Street expectations for fourth quarter in a row amid AI boom

Tech giant has committed to investing $80bn in artificial intelligence this fiscal year as it reveals revenue of $70.07bnMicrosoft released its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday after the New York stock market closed, beating Wall Street’s expectations for the fourth quarter in a row amid a financial boom for artificial intelligence businesses.The company revealed revenue of $70.07bn and earnings of $3.46 per share. The result exceeded analyst predictions that revenue would grow to $68.42bn, or 10.6% year-over-year, and that earnings-per-share would come in at $3.22. Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago South Africa to review claims past ANC governments impeded apartheid crimes investigations

Cyril Ramaphosa sets up inquiry as victims’ families allege interference from ‘highest levels of government’South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is setting up an inquiry into whether past ANC governments interfered with the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes, amid criticism from the families of victims.A group of 25 relatives and survivors of apartheid-era deaths and violence sued the government in January, claiming that interference from “the highest levels of government” blocked investigations into cases referred to the National Prosecuting Authority by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Continue reading...

Events

3 h. ago Ukraine war briefing: US and Kyiv ‘ready to sign’ minerals deal amid uncertainty over last

Ukraine’s first deputy PM travels to Washington to sign deal as later reports claim US pushing Ukraine to sign extra documents Kyiv felt were not ready Ukraine and the US said they were ready to sign a minerals deal, amid reports that a last-minute obstacle injected uncertainty into the timing. “Our side is ready to sign. The Ukrainians decided last night to make some last-minute changes,” US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told reporters. “We’re sure that they will reconsider that and we are ready, if they are.”Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, is on her way to the US to sign the minerals deal, according to a senior source in the Ukrainian presidency. Ukraine’s prime minister, Denis Shmyhal, said on Wednesday that the reworked deal would be signed within the next 24 hours and would have to be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament.But later reports claimed the US was pushing Ukraine to sign additional documents, but that Kyiv felt they were not ready yet. The ...

Economics

3 h. ago Microsoft to report earnings as AI financial boom shows no sign of slowing

Company has beaten Wall Street expectations in each of its previous three quarterly earnings reportsMicrosoft will report its earnings for the third quarter of the fiscal year after the stock market closes on Wednesday. Analysts have predicted that revenue would grow by 10.6% year-over-year to $68.4bn, even as the company plows tens of billions into artificial intelligence as well as earnings-per-share of $3.22. The company has beaten Wall Street’s expectations on each of its previous three quarterly earnings reports.Analysts said they view the earnings report as a temperature check on Microsoft’s artificial intelligence business, which has announced it will invest around $80bn in this fiscal year alone, though it has also terminated some data center leases in recent months. The company has invested billions in OpenAI in recent years, giving it a large stake in the ChatGPT developer. Continue reading...

Politics

4 h. ago Trump says he does not know if El Salvador would return Kilmar Ábrego García and hasn’t asked – live

Trump said he hasn’t spoken to Bukele about mistakenly deported man – despite supreme court order requiring administration to facilitate returnKristi Noem says Ábrego García would be deported immediately if sent back to USTrump pressures journalist to accept doctored photo as realDonald Trump promptly claimed this morning that the contraction in the US economy had nothing to do with his tariff wars, repeated his habitual claim that this is all somehow his predecessor Joe Biden’s fault, and predicted the economy would boom when tariffs kicked in. He wrote on his Truth Social platform:This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s. I didn’t take over until January 20th. Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden “Overhang.” This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE P...

Politics

4 h. ago Ray Romano and Sebastian Maniscalco share banter while atop Italian Alps in Winter Olympics promo

NBC is continuing its strategy of infusing the Olympics with pop culture and celebrity appeal to generate momentum ahead of the Milan-Cortina Winter Games in Italy next year

Politics

4 h. ago ‘One big dream’: Bodø/Glimt’s modern miracle built on history and humility

Family club, known as a symbol of northern Norwegian self-esteem, prepare to face Tottenham in Europa League semisNobody is sure precisely when the “coffee table” tradition began, but consensus traces it back about 60 years. It would take a lot for one of the regulars not to show up. The time is almost 11am and cups are being laid out in the Aspmyra Stadion canteen for the Bodø/Glimt old boys’ daily catchup. In walks Ivar Bakke, who can count himself as the group’s elder statesman at 94. “One of the oldest people in Norway!” he laughs before sitting down. Tall tales are retold, memories sharpened in delighting over past and more recent glories; however far those stretch, everyone here knows what it has taken to bring their club to the barely fathomable territory of a Europa League semi-final.The raconteur in chief is Jacob Klette, a sharp figure in his late 70s who made almost 400 appearances for a team that broke boundaries. “The northern part of Norway has always had to fight for ...

Politics

4 h. ago ‘Radical joy’: Cambodians in California celebrate Khmer culture 50 years after Killing Fields

In Long Beach, city with the largest diaspora of Cambodians in the US, people dance, eat and reflect on the 1975 killings“Sousdey chnam thmey!” a rider shouted in Khmer into a megaphone while sitting atop a float swaddled in US and Cambodian flags. “Happy new year!” parade-goers yelled back from the street.Thousands of Cambodian Americans gathered to celebrate the Khmer New Year in Long Beach’s Cambodia Town district – the heart of the largest diaspora of Cambodians in the United States. Continue reading...

Events

4 h. ago ‘Reform all the way’: on the road in Doncaster – Politics Weekly UK

Before this week’s local elections, John Harris is on the road in Doncaster – which could prove to be a canary in the coalmine for the government. Labour has been in power here for decades but this time Nigel Farage’s Reform UK fancies its chances. So why are people turning away from Labour? Why are they so disillusioned with politics in general? And what would a Reform-run city actually be like?Please support The Guardian at http://theguardian.com/politicspod The full list of candidates for Doncaster mayor are:David Bettney, Social Democratic party Continue reading...

Politics

5 h. ago Europa League glory will not rescue Manchester United’s season, warns Amorim

Manager says addressing wider problems matters more Amorim confident United ‘are prepared’ for Athletic tieRuben Amorim has said even winning the Europa League will not save Manchester United’s season, the head coach stating that only “good decisions” can transform his side in the long term.United are at Athletic Bilbao for Thursday’s Europa League semi-final first leg, conscious that claiming the competition will conclude a troubled campaign with silverware and Champions League qualification. With United in 14th and certain to finish in their lowest position in the Premier League, it would also give Amorim a trophy after taking over in late October. However, the Portuguese is clear it would not make the campaign a success. Continue reading...

Events

5 h. ago Harry Redknapp says ‘German spy’ joke about Thomas Tuchel ‘badly backfired’

Former manager made comments at event in MarchSaudi Arabia is ‘a great place for a World Cup’Harry Redknapp says his description of England’s head coach, Thomas Tuchel, as a “German spy” was a “joke that badly backfired”.The 78-year-old former ­manager, who had successful spells at ­Spurs, West Ham and ­Portsmouth but never landed the England job, also talked up Eddie Howe’s credentials as the best man to lead the Three Lions. Continue reading...

Events

5 h. ago King Charles says cancer diagnosis made him ‘one of the statistics’

Charles reveals his experience has deepened his admiration for charities supporting the 390,000 cancer cases each yearThe king has reflected on his experience with cancer, saying has brought into “sharp focus the very best of humanity”, while acknowledging that each new case is “a daunting and at times frightening experience” for those receiving a diagnosis and for their loved ones.In a personal written message, released to coincide with a Buckingham Palace reception celebrating organisations that help people with the disease, he described himself as one of the “statistics” among the 390,000 who “sadly” receive a cancer diagnosis in the UK each year. Continue reading...

Science